IPL 2019, CSK vs KKR: The best captaincy move of the day
Both CSK and KKR came into this match high on confidence as both teams had won four out of their first five matches this season. It is clear that CSK and KKR are two of the favourites to lift the IPL trophy this season. So naturally, there was a lot of hype surrounding this encounter between the two powerhouses of the IPL.
Earlier, the home captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to field first on a slow Chepauk pitch. This was a brave call considering the fact that any decent score would have been tough to chase down on this pitch, but Dhoni trusted his bowlers and had the dew factor in mind.
KKR got off to a horrible start as they lost three wickets when their score was in single digits. Robin Uthappa then tried to rebuild the innings with captain Dinesh Karthik. But Dhoni came up with the masterstroke by giving another over to Deepak Chahar, who was in great rhythm tonight. The fast bowler had already taken two wickets so Dhoni decided to give him another one.
The move paid off brilliantly as Uthappa tried one shot too many and was caught in the deep. KKR failed to stem to rot as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. At one stage, their score read 47/6 and even reaching the 100-run mark looked difficult for the visitors. But Andre Russell batted well with tail and his 29-run unbeaten partnership for the last wicket with Harry Gurney helped KKR to reach 108.
Chahar was the destroyer in chief as he conceded just 20 runs in his quota of four overs, picking three wickets in the process. He also broke the record of most dot balls by a bowler in a single innings in the IPL.
A target of 109 was never going to bother the strong batting line up of CSK. They lost Shane Watson and Suresh Raina early to give some hope to the visitors but it was a lost cause. Faf du Plessis and Ambati Rayudu batted sensibly to ensure that they didn't allow KKR to build any pressure on the hosts. Eventually, CSK won the match with 16 balls to spare and seven wickets in hand.
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